Two Maine high school girls spoke out Monday about competing against transgender athletes, describing “crushing disappointment” and urging officials to protect their opportunities as their attorney announced plans for a federal civil rights complaint.
Reagan Wilson, a junior at Fryeburg Academy, and Morgan Clark, a junior and varsity soccer captain at Windham High School, addressed a news conference at the Maine State House in Augusta alongside advocates seeking a statewide vote on sex-based eligibility rules.
“Many girls and women are discovering the crushing disappointment that comes from being beaten in their own sports by males who should have never been allowed to compete in the first place,” Wilson said.
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Wilson, who said she has competed in swimming, cross-country, indoor and outdoor track, soccer and softball, described facing transgender competitors across multiple seasons.
“During my cross-country season, I competed against a biological male in many of my races. Most recently, I competed against a male playing on an all-girls soccer team,” she said.
“This is unacceptable and has deprived me and so many other girls of equal opportunity to compete and win.”
Clark, who said she has played soccer in Maine since she was 4, described the issue moving from something she encountered online to something affecting her own team.
“Last year, this sort of thing was something I only saw online, but now it’s something that I’m seeing in my own field,” Clark said. “If it can happen to me, it can happen to you.”
Clark pointed to an October tie against a team whose results had improved substantially over the previous season.
“In October, our team tied against a team we’ve easily outranked in past years, a team with a male athlete,” she said.
Windham played South Portland to a 1-1 draw on Oct. 1. The Portland Press Herald reported that South Portland finished the previous season 3-9-2 and 14th in the regional Heal point standings.
A draft complaint provided to OutKick identifies a transgender player on South Portland’s girls’ soccer team as the focus of the athletes’ allegations. A scoring chart supplied for the planned complaint credited the player with 15 goals and 10 assists through South Portland’s Oct. 27 playoff game.
The draft alleges that Maine’s eligibility policies deprive female athletes of equal competitive opportunities. It also describes Wilson’s previous experiences in cross-country and indoor track and field.
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At Monday’s news conference, Alliance Defending Freedom attorney Tavia Bruxellas McAlister said the organization would file a Title IX complaint that day on the girls’ behalf with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights.
The draft seeks an investigation of the Maine Department of Education, Maine Principals’ Association, South Portland School Department and Windham Raymond School District, along with changes to eligibility policies and remedies for alleged past violations.
Both Windham and South Portland were eliminated in regional semifinals Friday, ending the possibility of another meeting during this year’s playoffs. The draft says both girls intend to play varsity soccer again next year and expect to face the South Portland athlete.
Maine’s policy dispute with the federal government predates the girls’ planned complaint. The Education Department announced a Title IX noncompliance finding against Maine in March 2025, and the Justice Department sued the state’s education department the following month over transgender participation in girls’ sports.
Maine officials and the MPA have defended their approach by citing the Maine Human Rights Act, which protects against gender-identity discrimination. The MPA’s published policy allows transgender students to compete according to either their birth sex or gender identity, but not both.
In June, the Supreme Court upheld state restrictions on transgender participation in girls’ and women’s sports. The Court expressly left unresolved whether schools may allow transgender athletes to participate on female teams, the separate question underlying Maine’s dispute.
The athletes appeared as referendum organizers announced another attempt to put restrictions before Maine voters.
Leyland Streiff, principal officer of the Protect Girls Sports in Maine ballot committee and a leader of Maine Girl Dads, said the group was submitting 4,836 additional signatures toward a place on the 2027 ballot.
Its earlier petition fell 532 valid signatures short of qualifying for this year’s election after a legal challenge and review. Additional signatures would require state validation.
The proposal would base eligibility for designated school teams and access to bathrooms, locker rooms and other private spaces on sex recorded on students’ original birth certificates. It would also allow students to sue over qualifying violations.
Clark said she hopes the effort changes the experience for her teammates and other girls.
“I hope that this referendum helps girls like me and my friends play the sport that we love fairly and safely,” she said.